Unstable Photoshop, even though is a PC I believe someone here knows h

[mjugend]

I’ve been using it since it came on the market, I never had a problem, I use the same one in my Mac as well and never had any issues with, but lately, since a couple of weeks it started getting unstable after a few minutes on. The first sign is the hourglass, stays there and I cannot use any tool until the hourglass goes, then after few seconds comes back again. In other words, it’s a slow crash and what it would take 5 minutes to accomplish it takes an hour.

Other thing that I noticed, I don’t know if that is not normal, is the CPU Usage goes all the way to 100% when that happens and the Photoshop Process takes 228,448 KB.

I use a HP laptop with 521MB ram and as I said, it never gave me any trouble before, any ideas?

Thank you in advance.
M. Jugend

[travelin cat]

You need more ram... at least a gig.

[mjugend]

Well, as I mentioned, I've been using Photoshop for a while (few years) and it never did that to me, it just started happening a short while ago w/o any known issues (I did not install any new programs), and that is why I believe that it could be something else then memory, otherwise it would have happened before.

Any other sugesttion?

[Don_Hoagie]

512 is definitely enough to run Photoshop as long as you mind two things:

1. Only web-sized graphics. No 600ppi files at 20mb a pop.

2. As with any memory-intensive app, don't run other heavy programs at the same time.

Restart your PC, make sure you're following both these guidelines, and try doing the usual alterations on a file for as long as it usually takes before you have a problem... put a few filters on it, add some layers, etc. You shouldn't have any problems doing that.

If you do run into the problem again, may I ask if this is a bootleg version of PS? I'll take a lack of reply to mean "yes". Bootlegged PS apps sometimes have these strange tendencies to "go sour"... either with a file that you've re-saved over and over for years, or the app itself. Makes no sense, I know... but i've seen it happen at least ten times on otherwise totally capable PCs.

[mjugend]

This last answer sounds much more correct, and yes to your question, you're right. I'll try as you said and after that I'll let you know.

Thanks,
MJ

[travelin cat]

ok, this is what I was referring to, if you are making small graphics 512k of ram will suffice but you are limiting yourself... the os will take up a great chuck of that and PS needs a lot just for its cache.

if you are using ps a lot (read professionally) you should fork over the small $$ for another 512k chip. If nothing else you will be able to have other programs open at the same time to cut and paste or whatever...

[Leosghost]

I think the Op means that his .exe file is unofficial ..

all the ram in the world wont make up for code that calls but cant hang onto the .dlls it needs to function ..due to fractures

[Don_Hoagie]

I think the Op means that his .exe file is unofficial ..
all the ram in the world wont make up for code that calls but cant hang onto the .dlls it needs to function ..due to fractures

Exactly... though your version of the answer reads like good advice from an experienced technician, and mine reads more like See Spot Run.

TC, you're entirely correct, but that's more of a general reference to using Photoshop. The OP already stated that he hadn't had problems before, and now he does... that's usually not something that can be solved with more RAM, provided he hadn't recently made any big changes to his PC (which he also stated). And what the heck is this doing in the Mac forum anyways?

[mjugend]

Well, as I mentioned in the subject of this posting: "even though is a PC I believe someone here knows how..." much better then in any other Forum and I believe that I wasn't wrong.

Usually I work from my Mac, this is happening B/C I'm in Brazil right now working out of someone else's PC. So for what I understand now, RAM is enough as far as I don't open any other RAM eater, I don't, the .exe unofficial, would that really make any difference, if so, why now and not 2 weeks ago since there were not any mayor changes to the computer or its contents?

Any other ideas?

Thanks again,
MJ

[Leosghost]

It would make lots of difference ..badly done cracks get more unstable the more you use the apps that use them ..a computor is a dynamic system as is the registry ..a little change means a lot ( look at how many lines of code there are and how many calls to resources are made from the average .exe .( and photoshop is one of the medium to biggies ).and thats not counting the filters and save routines etc ..)..
Most unofficial stuff will open the gui ..run some basic filter stuff and thats all ( and sometimes does other stuff behind your back ...."importing registry" entires to reg apps via other peoples patches ..ROTFALOL..

Means you have to beleive they have only your best interests at heart ..cos you are letting them write to your registry ..or if you prefer ..you are saying ..
GWANN ..HACK ME!

especially if your friend just placed "patch" and clicked it ..like most lamers ..

And I'm not gonna say how you might fix it ..

suggest he finds out how to diss apps ..when he does he'll appreciate good code ..and buy the apps anyway ..:)

[mjugend]

Hey, I was wrong, I just talk to the PC owner and is sending me the original box, CD, etc so I can call Adobe Brazil and get a fix for it, so we were wrong, there might be something else that is causing that problem.

Thanks anyways.

MJ

[lesterofpupets]

Ctrl-ALt-Del and see how many processes are running. It's hard to tell you which ones you can kill, but kill some. Try re-installing software. If your harddrive is close to full, it will degrade performance. Defrag Harddrive.

[Don_Hoagie]

Well, as I mentioned in the subject of this posting: "even though is a PC I believe someone here knows how..." much better then in any other Forum and I believe that I wasn't wrong.

Actually, The "Site Graphics and Multimedia Design" forum is the popular spot for Photoshop questions, and THAT would've been much better than this forum, especially since a lot of advice on the Mac OS is irrelevant to the Windows OS. It's only by dumb luck that you are receiving PC-based solutions on a Mac board.

If you continue to have problems, I would suggest posting questions there instead of here.